Police signal system



June 7,1927.

W. E. FROST POLICE SIGNAL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 24. 1924 J .54: 9 L63 /2 9 32v 239: -2

45 J/ Z Z 7 J0 43 t 5/ awe/whoa Wt I MEFRUBT 3 $hests-Sheet 1 A W. E. FROST POLICE SIGNAL SYSTEM Filed Jan. 24, 1924 June 7 1927.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lll Patented June 7, 1927.

- motor against operation,

I "Figure -TED. STATES- f P TENE] 1 W LIEREDW 'FBQ T, 0 a

roa ERNEST HUNT era Born :01?

My invention to provide a 1 si AUBURN, ax m.

roman SIGNAL SYSTEM.

Application filed; January 24, .1924, Serial No. 688,310

has for its principalobject mple, yet efficient' signaling system, whereby. a signal may be operated in proximity any. beat, to signify that he is'to. call the.

police station.

to the policemans phone. box on Q'In carrying out the above end, a further object is to provide means forturning on the signal, controlled.fromthe police station,-

but to provide such a construction that the signal will rem ain in operation:until-1nanually turned off bythe policeman called to the phone box.

A still further object is-to provideanelectrically operated tell-tale in thepolice station, by means of which the operator of the system may determine Whether the signal has operated.

Another aim i s to make provision for using the ordinary telephone wires fromthe police station to the phone box, to carry current for operating the signal.

In the preferredconstruction, a self-starting spring motor is switch to bring employed to close a the signal into play, anda brake is provided to normally hold said providing mean tion, for releasing and in addition to s controlled at the police staobject to providemeans controlled by the motor, for holding said brake in a released position, until mentum. Yet another said motor has gainedmoobject is to connectingmeans between a shaft of the motorand the latter will be e signal switch, whereby the ilectively operated v andr said connecting means will be freed, of unnecessary strain.

- With the foregoingi n View, the invention resides in the" novel subject matter here-inafter described and claimed, the description being 'supplementedby the accompanying w l drawin s.

lisa

" perspective view of .a .wire

' supporting pole .upon which. a 'policemans telephone 'bo-x' is mounted, illustrating the signall'ngmeans 1n connection with said pole and box,

Figure 2 is a unit of the 'sys front elevation showing the t'em which is located in the this'brake, it is a further 7 provide novel Figure 3 is a sectional view on line3 3 ofF1gL2. I

, Figure 4 n, Mama, assienoa crown-EI HTH TO MOUNT- 'rnnnn nie rrns To WILLIAM EpWE L T URLOW;

is an elevation partly insectioli showing a portion of the signal-operating means which is disposed in proximity tothe phone box. I. r Figure 5 is an elevation partly in section looking in the opposite'dir-ection tromllig. l. Figure 6 is an end elevation of the motor shown in Figs. 4; and 5.

Figure 7 is a diagram of the entire system.

In the drawings above briefly described, I haveillustrated a pole l upon wl1 icl1 tele phone-and electric light wires are mouiited. Upon this pole, I have shown a .policemans telephone box 2, in which a receiver. '3,"and

a transmitter 4 are located, ,said transmitter Y and receiver being connected by shunt/wires Sand/6, Withtwo telephone wires 7 and 8 on the pole. The wire 7 has been shown in Fig. 7 as including a battery9 and as lead ing .to the usual call'recording instrument 10 in the police station.

The construction and operation of this instrument are knownand form nopart of my invention, The wire 8 leads also toth fe police station and witlra Contact llvcarriedby a'switch arm 12, saidcontact, ment with a Stationary contact 1 3"ifrOm which a wire 1% leads to the instrument'lO.

and wires 21 and ,22'are provided for {this light,-. said wiresbeing electrically connected. with anor di nary. pull chain snap switch 23,; f .or with isomeigothersuitable switclndocated in the upper portion. olf theph one box'2.

The wires 21 and 22 may receive current from any. desired source, such asthe" electric light wires 24: and'25fon'the pole 1.

Below 'the'switch 23, a spring motor 26 has=been illustrated, in the phonebox 2, said 7 I including .a pair of shafts 27 and 28 which'ttnavel in directions shown i by the motor is electrical connection being normally in engage I v 90 Y I have shfwnasignal light'l9 mountedon an, arm 20 which extends from,thefl 'aolel.v

arrows in the drawings.

shaft 27 rotates from the position shown in Fig. 7, it pulls upon the chain34 to operate the switch 23 and illuminate the light 19, but when the switch has been:

turned on, the spring 32 stretches and as soon as the arm 29 passes below center, the

connection 31 will relieve some otthe tension on the spring and associated parts It 18 ofcourse understood that the shafts 27 and 28 are suit-ably geared together in any desired manner. Co-acting with a brake wheel 35 on the shaft 28, I have shown a spring-applied brake 36, and an electromagnet 37 has been illustrated for releasing said brake whenever it is desired that the motor shall operate to illuminate the light 19. I prefer to provide a constant source of current'supply for the magnet 37, such a source beinghere shown in the form of a battery 38 which may well be located in the phone box 2. Also mounted in the phone box, is a normally open switch 39 having an electromagnet' 40 by means of which it may be closed. One side of the switch 39 has been shown as connected with the battery 38, by a wire '41, while the other side of said switch is connected bya wire 42'with the magnet 37 from which a wire 43 returns to the battery 38. It thus follows that when the magnet '40 is energized, the switch 39 is closed and acircuit is completed from the battery 38 through the magnet 37 to release the brake 36 and permit starting of the motor, In order to permit themotor to gain the desired momentum, novel provi sion is madefor holding the magnet 37 in circuit, even when" the switch 39fagain opens, as fully described below.

An automatic switch has been shown associated with one end of the shaft 27, said switch includinga pair of stationary contacts 44 and 45 and a traveling contact 46 which is carried by said shaft27, but is normally at an open circuit position. A

wire 47 shouts from the wire41 to the con-.

tact 45 and another wire 48 leads from the contact 44 to the wire 42. Thus, as soon as initial starting of the motortakes place, the

traveling contact 46'bridges the gap between the contacts 44 and 45 and holds the mag- ,net 37 energized until the spring motor. has

gained the desired amount of'momentum. Thus, the brake 36 will not interfere with the attainment of such momentum, but when it is released by deenergizing of the. magnet 37, is inreadinessto stop the motor when the latter has made one complete revolution.

The provision for energizing the electromagnet 40dwill nowbe described. A hand generator 49 is located in the police station and from this generator I have shown a. wire normally spaced from a second contact 52 on the switch arm 12 which arm is provided with a single handle 53, so that when'this handle is depressed, the switch 51'-52 will be closedand simultaneously, the switch 1113, will be opened. When the the wire 8 through a wire 54 which leads to the magnet 40 and maywell include a condenser 55, which prevents any storage batteries used in circuit therewith from dis charginginto the ground. If the wiring system does not have a ground, the con denser is unnecessary. From the magnet 40, a wire 56 has been shown leading to a water pipe or other ground 57, andthis ground is connected by a. wire 58 with the generator 49 so asto complete the circuit for the magnet 40. 7' 1 I have illustrated a tell-tale bell 59 in the station house so that the operator of the system may determine when the motor has operated and the light 19'illuminates, A wire 60 has been shown extending from the wire 8 to the bell 59 and another wire 61 extends from said bell to a normally open switch 62; From this switch, a wire 63 BX- tends to the wire 7. Extending from the wires 5 and" 6 respectively, I have shown two wires 65 and 66 leading to an automatic switch on themotor 26, which switch may well include a pair of relatively movable contacts 67 and 68, one of which isin the 50 leading to a contact bar 51 which is path of the arm 29.- When the motorhas rotated and effected illumination of the light 19, the arm 29 closes the circuit between the contacts 67 and 68 and the current will then flow as shown by the dotted arrows in Fig. 7, thatis when the switch 62 is held closedby the operator, Thus, as soon as 69 in Fig. 7 ,electrically connected with the wires 60 and63 and equipped with a switch police station wishes to call a policeman on a certain beat, the proper handle 53is depressed andthegener'ator 49 is operated, it being of'course understood that aplurality of the switch'arms 12 are provided, so {that anybeat may be called when desired. The

70 which may be considered as a substantial duplicate of the switch 62,

Wheneverthe operator of the system at a 7 current then flows as indicated by the heavy arrows in Fig. 7, thus energizing the mag-' .net 40 and causing it to close the switch 39.

The circuit for the magnet37 then travels as indicated by the light full line arrows and consequently the brake 36 is released and-the motor 26 starts to operate. As soon as this initial starting has taken place, the traveling contact 46 bridges the gap between the stationary contacts 44 and 45 and the magnet 37 is held energized to hold the brake 36 disengaged, until the motor has gained the necessary amount ofmomentum. To effect this holding of the brake 36, it is not necea sary, it will be observed, to continually operate the hand generator 49, as the moment the motor has started, the circuit from the constant source of supply 38, is used to energize the magnet 37 for the proper length of time, controlled by the traveling contact 46. As the'motor shaft 27 turns, the'connections between it and the switch 23 are operated to illuminate the light 19 or if desired to sound some audible signal.v The parts then return to normal position, with the exception of the switch 23, but the switch remains closed until the policeman opens the box and releases it.

Immediately after operating the generator 29, the operator atthe police station depresses the switch 62 or 70, or both as occasion may require. Then, as soon as the motor has operated sufficiently to allow the arm 29 to force the contacts 67 and 68 into engagement with each other, the circuit for the tell-tale 59 or 69, or both, is completed and the current will then travel as shown by the dotted arrows.

As soon as the handle 53 is released, the switch arm 12 is restored to its normal posireliable and desirable system has been provided, and While excellent results may be obtained from the details disclosed, it is to be understood that this disclosure is for illustrative purposes only and that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous changes may be made.

I claim:

The combination with a telephone circuit from a police station to a'policemans phone box, including a normally closed switch at the station, having a handle by means of which it may be opened, of a signal in proximity to the'phone box, electrical means for bringing said signal into "play including a circuit formed in part by a portion of said phone circuit and a normally open switch at the station positively connected with said handle to be closed simultaneously with the opening of the first named switch, an electrical tell-tale at the police station and conductors connecting it with the phone circuit,

an automatic switch at the phone box closed by operation of said signal, and conductors connecting said automatic switch with the phone circuit, whereby to operate said telltale when the signal'is operated.

In testimony whereof have hereunto a-ffixed my signature.

WALTER EDWINv FROST. 

